Sustainable life support on Mars – the potential roles of cyanobacteria
Cyprien Verseux, Mickael Baquéa, Kirsi Lehto; et. al... ASI sponsor
Jun - 2015
DOI: dx.doi.org/10.1017/S147355041500021X

journal : International Journal of Astrobiology
type: Article Journal

Abstract
Even though technological advances could allow humans to reach Mars in the coming decades, launch costs prohibit the establishment of permanent manned outposts for which most consumables would be sent from Earth. This issue can be addressed by in situ resource utilization: producing part or all of these consumables on Mars, from local resources. Biological components are needed, among other reasons because various resources could be efficiently produced only by the use of biological systems. But most plants and microorganisms are unable to exploit Martian resources, and sending substrates from Earth to support their metabolism would strongly limit the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of their cultivation. However, resources needed to grow specific cyanobacteria are available on Mars due to their photosynthetic abilities, nitrogen-fixing activities and lithotrophic lifestyles. They could be used directly for various applications, including the production of food, fuel and oxygen, but also indirectly: products from their culture could support the growth of other organisms, opening the way to a wide range of life-support biological processes based on Martian resources. Here we give insights into how and why cyanobacteria could play a role in the development of self-sustainable manned outposts on Mars.

keywords : cyanobacteria; in situ resource utilization (ISRU); life-support systems; Mars exploration; space technologies; synthetic biology

Notes : This work was supported by the Italian Space Agency,noteworthy through their support to the BIOMEX_Cyano and BOSS_Cyano experiments.